


Hold Me Tight

by TinyDemonWriter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, I wrote this for shits and giggles, M/M, Pre-Canon, and then i couldn't stop, i wrote this based off someones hc on the moschicane server, no really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 10:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18737011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyDemonWriter/pseuds/TinyDemonWriter
Summary: People were talking about their headcanons on Boyd and Ned cuddling, and then this work was born.





	Hold Me Tight

The first time, it’s an accident. 

They’re on the run and need to dip into a hotel room. It’s easier to get away with a single, if someone is looking for two people. They stay up late, later than, perhaps, they should. Breaths held, adrenaline shooting their heart rates up. 

After a while, it becomes obvious that no one is going to be there and they laugh at another job done, another close call. They try to decide who’s going to take the bed, but it’s late. And it doesn’t really matter, does it? They’ve fucked before, in that post heist success, no strings attached kind of way. Sure, they always went to separate beds afterward, if they even made it to one in the first place. But, this shouldn’t be that different, right? 

So they settle in, stiffly at first before laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Ned’s being dramatic, flopping on Boyd, draping himself over him. But they’re tired, and eventually they fall asleep. Separated, distance between them that they’re sure that they can maintain. But. 

It’s morning the next day. Afternoon, really, and Ned wakes up first. It’s dark and he feels trapped and he panics a bit, hearth thundering in his chest. But then, he realizes he recognizes that scent, knows what it’s like to be trapped by those arms and he relaxes again. 

Then he starts panicking for another reason. They’re fuck buddies, partners in crime and in bed, but they aren’t partners in the romantic sense. Ned doesn’t know how to risk it, how to be anything more, it terrifies him. It doesn’t matter how much he wants it, the heart of the matter is he’s scared. He contented himself with post heist laughs and fucks, and was so so desperate to keep that line firm, to not put his heart in danger like that. But. This is. Nice.

Perhaps, just this once, he can let the lines blur a little more, perhaps he can let this happen. Just this once. 

Ned falls back asleep, resolute in his thought that this would be the one time he’d let this happen. Boyd though, Boyd wakes up after Ned goes to sleep and his heart aches. 

He knows what he wants. He’s a greedy man, he knows this. He wants and wants and wants. Money, food, treasure. More than all that, though, he wants this. Ned at his side, be it in a mansion they’re raiding, or in his bed, fucking him hard and fast and dirty, in an alley after they’ve celebrated a job well done and can’t wait to get to the shitty motel of the week. 

More than that, though, he wants to hold Ned close, to love him and protect him and be with him. He thinks that, maybe, if he could just have this man next to him, if he could just have him and be had by him, he could content himself with that.

He thinks he could put all this aside, all the danger and the thrill of a heist, all of it could be put aside if it’s what Ned wanted. If he was who Ned wanted.

But, he isn’t. This isn’t a story, and he doesn’t get a happy ending. He doesn’t get the prince, he’s the dragon that keeps him locked in the tower (no matter that it’s only because the prince doesn’t want to leave, that the prince is more happy in the company of dragons than he is of men. He doesn’t know this, how could he when the prince never says so?). 

Maybe he shouldn’t do this to himself. It’s only going to hurt later, when Ned wakes up and laughs it off and never lets it happen again. But he can’t help himself, and so he lays there, arms wrapped around Ned’s waist, holding him close and indulging in fantasies best kept quiet, until Ned starts to stir. Then, he slides his arms out from around him, and gets up, and pretends that this hadn’t happened, that he hadn’t had everything he’s ever wanted in his hands.

And when Ned asks him what’s for lunch, he smiles and says whatever he wants, knowing that at least he’s lucky enough to have this. Even if it’s not everything, it’s more than he thought he would have, and it has to be enough. If it isn’t, well, the heists are fun too.

 

It’s been months, now, since the first incident. They’ve had to share a bed twice now, and each time, Boyd has awoken first and disentangled himself. He’s always been the one who was holding Ned, and getting out of the situation without waking Ned is difficult each time.

Still, a part of him is soothed by the fact that he can even do it in the first place. When they were just starting out, Boyd even getting up out of bed from the other side of the room would wake Ned up. Now, they are far more comfortable with each other.

(That is, perhaps, something that isn’t good. One day, someone is going to break in and, well, that’s a story for another day.)

This time, however, things are different. First, Boyd’s head is on Ned’s stomach, Ned’s arms around him. Second, Boyd remembers that they had had sex the night before, and both are (surprisingly) naked, so Boyd can feel, skin to skin, everywhere they are touching. Third, and most surprisingly, Ned is awake.

Ned is awake and stroking Boyd’s head in very soothing motions.

Boyd freezes. This is… new. He doesn’t know what to do about this, exactly. They’ve not done this before.

“Good morning,” Ned rumbles, voice still heavy with sleep.

“Good morning,” Boyd returns. And that’s that.

They don’t talk about it. For months, the subject is never brought up. Instead, they fall into bed together, more and more often, and now it occurs even when they don’t have sex. They can be on the couch, watching tv, relaxing between jobs, sharing a blanket, one arm draped behind the other, curled up together. This is their new normal now. They don’t talk about it.

Until they do.

It’s been about eight months since the first incident, five since it became a regular occurrence. It’s in those sleepy hours, where maybe it’s one day, or maybe it’s the other. Time is blurred and undefined, and all that exists is this moment. They’re not doing anything, not really. Ned is laying on Boyd’s stomach, and they’re reading a book together. Boyd suspects that Ned isn’t really reading, but that’s neither here nor there. 

“This is nice,” Ned starts, soft and unsure, so unlike himself. Boyd blinks.

“Yes, it is,” he agrees. He continues flipping pages, but he’s not really paying attention to the words on the page, not anymore. His mind is alive with questions, with possibilities. Why would Ned say that?

He had said it in his quiet voice too. The one he uses when something really matters to him, but he’s afraid, because it means too much for him to spoil by speaking it aloud, as though speaking it into existence would shatter it. 

“I love you,” Ned blurts, and Boyd drops his book. It’s unfortunate that it’s a hardback, even more so since it lands on Ned’s side with a thud. Ned winces, more out of reflex than actual pain, and keeps his head down, eyes not meeting Boyd’s.

Things are quiet for a few moments as Boyd processes. _That didn’t happen. Yes it did. Does Ned love me? He did say it, is he lying? No he wasn’t using his lying voice. What is going on?_

After a minute, Boyd realizes he hasn’t answered yet, and that Ned is starting to slip from his arms. “Stay, please,” Boyd says, wrapping his arms around him, glad that the book had slid to the floor after it fell on Ned. “Why?” Boyd asks, knowing it’t not the right time to ask, but needing to know anyway.

“Because,” Ned says, but he trails off, shrugging his shoulders. “This is nice,” he repeats again. And it’s not an answer, not really, but Boyd still understands, and he knows it’s enough of an answer for now.

“I love you, too,” Boyd answers, tightening his arms around Ned. And it’s not everything, not yet. They’re still on the run, still have things they have to answer, still are stuck in a life on the run where funds are always fluctuating. But they have this, they have each other and, for now, it’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> VALIDATION
> 
> Nah but really I originally posted this on my [tumblr](https://tinydemondragon.tumblr.com/) but I decided to post it here too! Comments and kudos give me the life Griffin stole from me.


End file.
